Exhaust port protector for air brakes



NOV. 9, 1937. O D 2,098,885 9 EXHAUST PORT PROTECTOR FOR AIR BRAKES Filed NOV. 13, 1935 P'M l attorneys Patented Nov. 9, 19 37 UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICES,

E XHAUST rolt'l fzf'fio'lon FOR AIR I I I Lewis A. Saflord, Watcrtown, N. Y., assignor to The New York Air Brake Company. a corporation of New Jersey Application November 13, 1935, Serial 1w. 49,626 14 Claims. (01. 303-4 The invention relates to protectors for exhaust valves of air brakes.

The problem-of preventing mud daubers, cer-' tain species of bees, and wasps, from. building 5 nests in the exhaust ports of air brakes has become quite familiar in the art, there having been 'a marked increase in this difliculty in recent years, either because of an increase in the number of such insects or because of a more favorable 1o formation of the exhaust ports in modern retainer valves and automatic brake valves to thepurposes oi the insects.

While the protectors are primarily intended for use to protect the exhaust ports of retainer valves 15 they are available for use in protecting exhaust ports generally, and in some cases it is vital that they offer. little or no resistance to flow. Any construction which houses the exhaust port and produces a darkened cavity, particularly a rela- 20 tively small cavity, seems to increase the attractiveness as a nest. For this reason constructions in which the wasp excluder or protector is'fully exposed to light seemed to give the best results. This exposure, however, favors the formation of 25 ice and sleet with the result that the exhaust ports are occasionally closed in this way. In other words; prior solutions of the problem have introduced new difficulties.

The present invention provides a type of excluder which-is not only effective to exclude the wasp, but which would be self-clearing in, the event that the wasp does build a nest on the excluder or 'in the event that the excluder is coated with ice. I I

It has already been proposed to construct the exhaust protector as a sort of outward opening check valve. One patented type shows a disk valve which is bodily movable and another shows a butterfly valve which is hinged at one side. 40 Valves. of this type are relatively expensive to manufacture. They do not produce a good closure unless an unduly heavy spring is used. They are subject to considerable wear under vibration, and worst of all, when sealed by adherent mud or 45 ice-they cannot .open except by rupturing the sealing bond simultaneously throughout the entire sealed area. 1 A

According to the present invention use is made of a valve having a seat and an outwardly opening valve member. The valve member is made of flexible resilient material, preferably rubber, and the seat memberimay be, and preferably is, alsormade of this material. The form of the parts is such that when the valve is subjected 55 to the pressure of discharge it will be dti'orined'- progressively as the pressure rises. The eflect of this is to crack or break away the adherent solids. Because ofthe flexible character of the valve it can open with a sort of tearing motion so that rupture of the sealing bond will occur at the weakest 'point and-continue progressively until the valve. opens. completely. Because of this actionth'e flexible valve .will open under pressure which would lnot open a rigid hinged valve.

Testsmade byfreezing' heavy shells of ice over protectors of the type herein disclosed, and then subjecting them to rising pressure, have given surprisingly successful results; Shells oi ice far heavier. than' are likely to be encountered in service were ruptured by exhaust pressures such as would follow moderate service applications.

Several diflferent practical embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which,-

Fig. 1 is a view ofa retaining valve showing the exhaust protector in position.

. Fig. 2 is an axialsection through the protector shown in Fig. 1. a

Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is,a modification functionally quite similar to the form shown in Figs. Ho 3, but modified to open under very low discharge pressures and to be capable of accommodating heavy discharge flows at high pressures.

Reterringfirst to Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive,*the retaining valve is indicated at 6 and has the usual handle 'I by which it is set. Screwed into the exhaust port of the retainer valve is a metallic nipple 8 having a wrench grip 8. There is an extension of the nipple beyond the wrench grip 9 which is provided in the order stated with a seat I I, a retaining bead l2 and an extension l3 which terminates in a flat seat for a disk valve M. The valve II is made oi resilient flexible material, preferably rubber or rubber compound, and is retained by a screw l5, as clearly shown in the drawing. A longitudinal passage Ii extends through the nipple and communicates through lateral ports I! with a cup-like valve 46 element It which is mounted on the seat ll be-' hind the bead i2 andQembraces the periphery of the disk l4 moreor less closely. A reinforcing head I! slightly stiiiensthe edge oithe cupshaped member ll; and projecting beyond thedisle 50 M, serves as a drlp' ring.

The preferred arrangement is one in which the engagement'betwe'en the periphery; of the disk I and the cup-shaped member ll 'is as light as is consistent with the .formation qr a use on retainer valves to control the main exto permit a slow discharging flow and which will' haust port. If a retainer valve is not used the protector may be mounted directly in the exhaust passage of the triple valve itself.

In certain cases, however, it is desirable to have a protector which will open at very low pressures open under high discharging pressure to permit very rapid discharging flows. As an example of this arrangement reference may be made to the emergency portion of the AB brake valve now standard on American railways. The emergency portion of this valve functions during service applications to vent air from the quick action chamber at a slow rate. Inemergency applications the emergency portion causes a very rapid venting of brake pipe air. Both these flows pass through the same discharge connection and a protector for this connection must becapable of handling the large emergency flow and must not materially impede the relatively insignificant serviceflow. A protector suited for this class of serviceis shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to this figure a .threaded metallic nipple 28 provided with a conventional wrench grip 29 serves as the mount for the protector.

Beyond the wrench grip 29 is a seat 3|, defined by a flange or bead 22. A hub 33 supported by three narrow arms I'l serves as acentral support for the valve disk :4. ally, i. e., the disk is thicker at its center than it is at its periphery. The center of the disk is held on the hub 33 by the pinll which is provided with a washer and cotter pin, as clearly shown in the drawing. An axial passage 38 extends through the nipple and through the intervals between the arms 31. The parts are so arranged that the area of the ports between the arms 31 is at least equal to the total area of the passage 38. Mounted on the seat 3| and retained by the flange 32 is a valve element made up of v a flaring conical portion 38 and a cylindrical rim or flange 39. The part 38, I9 is preferably made of flexible rubber-like material, but is not necessarily so. Better results are secured by the use ll. Consequently it may open freely by simple downward fiexure and it. will open under very low internal pressures.

The large size of the disk valve 34 andthe fact that it is merely in edge contact with the interior of conicai portion 38' are both favorable to free opening under moderate pressure. The size and arrangement of the parts are such that a wide opening is afforded where discharge occurs rapidly at pressures of the order of 50 pound gauge, or more, 70 pound gauge being a normal freight brake pipe pressure under running c nditions.

This is tapered radiproper seal. When exhaust occurs the disk M The rubber parts may be vulcanized or ce- -mented to the seats Ii or 3|, as the case maybe, or other known means of attachment may be 2. A protector for the exhaust ports of air,

brakes, comprising incombination, two coacting members forming a normally closed annular valve, one of said members being a flexible disk supported centrally, and the other of said members being-a flaring truncated flexible and distensiblecone supported at its smaller end, with its larger free margin encircling and extending beyond the periphery of. said disk.

3. A protector for the exhaust ports of air brakes, comprising in combination a nipple adapted to connect with an exhaust port, said nipple including an annular mount and a center mount with an intervening passagev for discharging air; a distensible cup-like valve member mounted on said annular mount; and a flexible disk-like valve member mounted on said center mount, a'portion of the cup-like member encircling and extending beyond the periphery of said disk to form therewith a freely opening closure. g

4. A protector for the exhaust ports of air brakes, comprising in combination a nipple adapted to connect; with an exhaust port, said nipple including an annular mount and a denter mount with an intervening passage for discharging air; a distensible cup-like valve member mounted on said annular mount; and a flexible disk-like valve member, tapered from its center to its periphery, mounted on said center mount and encircled by a portion of said cup-like member to form therewith a freely opening closure.

5. A protector for the exhaust ports of air brakes, comprising'in combination, two coacting members forming a normally closed, outwardly opening annular'valve, one of said/members encircling the other, that other being of resilient deformable material, and so shaped as to separate from the encircling member when subjected to the pressure of exhaust.

6. A protector for the exhaust ports of air brakes, comprising in combination, two coacting members forming a normally closed, outwardly opening annular valve, one 01 said members being cup-shaped and terminating in a deep rim, and the other of said members being a disk of rubber-like material supported at its center within the other member and normally sealing at a peripheral edge therewith.-

'7. A vent protector for the exhaust passage of a fluid pressure brake device or the like comprising an element having a chamber open atone end to said exhaust passage and at the opposite end to atmosphere, means for securing said element to said device, and a flexible diaphragm secured to s id elemc'it normally closing communication mrough said chamber and adapted to be deflected by fluid under pressure supplied from said exhaust passage to open said. communication;

8. A vent protector for the exhaustpassage of a fluid pressure brake device or the like comprising an element having a chamber open at one end to said exhaust pressure supplied from saidexhaust i' munication through said chamber irom said exeand at theopposite end to atmosphere, elementto said device, and a flexible diaphragm secured to said elementwith the periphery of the diaphragm normally pressed against said element closing communication through said chamber, and adapted to be deflectedby-fluidunder with said inner wall by fluid under pressure sup--- plied from said exhaust passage for opening com-' haust passage to the atmosphere.

10. A vent protector ior'the exhaust-passage; of a fluid pressure brake device or the:like comi prising an element having a chamber open at F one end to said exhaust e and-at the oppoing beyond the atmospheric face of the diaphragm site end to atmosphere, means for securingsaid element to said device, and a flexible disc-like diaphragm secured to said element within said chamber with its peripheral edge normally flexed against the inner wall of said chamber and adapt- ,ed to be flexed'out oi engagement with said inner wall by fluid under pressure supplied through said exhaust passage to said chamber for establishing venting communication from said passage to the atmosphere. 11. A vent protector for the exhaust passage of a fluid pressure brake device or the like eomprising an element having a chamber open at one end to said exhaust passage and at the opposite end to atmosphere, means ior's ecuringsaid element to said device, and a flexible diaphragm secured to said element normally closing communication through said chamber and adapted to be deflected by fluid under pressure supplied from said exhaust passage to open said communication, said element including means surrounding and extendior protecting same. 7

12.,Ayent protector for the exhaust e of a fluid pressure brake device or the like comprising an element having a chamber open aton'e end tolxthe atmosphere, a. screw-threaded por means for securing said tioncarrying said element and screw-threaded to-said device, said device and element'having means' which coact when said vent protector is screwed intoposition' in said device for holding 1 said ventprotector against screwing out of said device, and a. flexible'diaphragm carried by said I element and normally closing communication through, said chamber from said exhaust port to atmosphere and adapted to be deflected by. fluid under pressure supplied from said exhaust portto open said communication. 7 I 13. ,As an article of manufacture, a vent protectorcomprising acircular body having an out wardly -flaring' inner side wall bounding a cham-Q ber the larger end of which is open, a s'crew-,

threaded portion projecting from the smaller end of ,the' body and having a passageway extending through'said. portion and opening into the smaller fendofJsaid-chamber, a member disposed within said chamber and secured to said body, a flexible disc-iike-diaphragm disposed in said chamber with its periphery engaging said inner sidewall 01 said chamber, and means securing said (he'- phragm at its center to said member. 1

14. As an'article of manufacture,& vent pr'o-. tector comprisinga circular body having an outwardly flaring inner side wall bounding ya chamher thelarger end of which is open, a screw- 1 threaded portion projecting from the smaller end 01 the body and having a vpassageway extending through said portion and opening into the smaller end of said chamber, a =member disposed within said chamber andsecured'to. said body, a flexible disc-like diaphragm arranged axially of said chamber and secured'at its center to said member with-the peripheral portion of said diaphragm engaging said body thereby normally closing communication through said chamber, said peripheral portion of the diaphragm being adapted to be flexed'out, of engagement with said body to open said communication, said body having a portion surrounding said diaphragm and extending over the diaphragm in a direction away from the screw-threadedportion.

LEWISASAFFORDL 

